The Defence Research Agency (DRA) was an

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or No ...

of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) from April 1991 until April 1995. At the time, the DRA was

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

's largest

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

organisation An organization or organisation ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is an entity—such as a company, or corporation or an institution ( formal organization), or an association—comprising one or more people and having a pa ...

. In April 1995, the DRA was combined with five other MOD establishments to form the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency.

History

The DRA was formed on 1 April 1991 as an amalgamation of the following Defence Research Establishments: * Admiralty Research Establishment (ARE) – major sites Portsdown,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and Southwell,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

("Maritime Division") *

Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...

(RAE) – major site

Farnborough, Hampshire Farnborough is a town located in the Rushmoor district of Hampshire, England. It has a population of around 57,486 as of the 2011 census and is an important centre of aviation, engineering and technology. The town is probably best known for it ...

("Aerospace Division") * Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) – major site Boscombe Down * Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment ( RARDE) – major site Fort Halstead,

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

("Military Division") * Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE) – major site

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern (, locally also: ) is a spa town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is ...

("Electronics Division") DRA's headquarters was created at the RAE site at Farnborough, but the other major sites maintained a great deal of independence. DRA's first Chief Executive was Nigel Hughes, followed by John Chisholm who took over in August 1991. In April 1995, the DRA was combined with five other MOD establishments to form the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency ( DERA), DRA's John Chisholm becoming Chief Executive of the enlarged DERA (split in July 2001 into DSTL and

QinetiQ QinetiQ ( as in '' kinetic'') is a British defence technology company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire. It operates primarily in the defence, security and critical national infrastructure markets and run testing and evaluation capabili ...

References

Bibliography

* Eds
Robert Bud
and Philip Gummett (1999), ''Cold War Hot Science: Applied Research in Britain's Defence Laboratories 1945-1990'', Harwood * Military research of the United Kingdom Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Defence agencies of the United Kingdom 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom 1995 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Government agencies established in 1991 Government agencies disestablished in 1995 {{UK-mil-stub